If we were to consider the characteristics of a mystical dialogue between two distinct types of artistic expression, such as painting and flamenco, then we would arrive at an enriching dialogue in which one art form constantly feeds off the other.

And so it is that in whispers and sometimes in thunderous shouts that the multidisciplinary Alejandro Solea He manages to unite his two great passions in forms of expression that tell stories of passion, love and pain.

Starting with the content of his work in the plastic arts where he takes as an inexhaustible source of inspiration the figure of the Our Lady of Sorrows and her eternal lament in these portraits that are often accompanied by floral elements in her latest series entitled “Flowers for the Sorrowful One.”

In it, the artist evokes small altars made for the Virgin and where the elements of the flowers move a little more towards still life, inspired a bit by the painting of María Izquierdo with certain surreal compositional elements with small insinuations that give the illusion of infinite spaces.

For the artist, the elements of nature are also sacred, and he creates a beautiful painting by combining the sacredness of nature with the sacredness of the Church and the human being in a single whole.

His paintings, which are a kind of manuscript, should be interpreted as open questions for the viewer, asking the reason for the presence of certain elements and what story the painter wants to tell through them.

Another personal story about the reason for using flowers was that the author, in his childhood, would cross the patio of his grandmother's house, Señora Esperanza, and stop running to contemplate all the flowers she had, thus observing those levels, compositions, textures, shadows and lights of the wavering petals and exuberant plants, resulting in a kind of three-dimensional painting for him.

That is why in his pictorial offering to Our Lady of Sorrows, he draws flowers that will not wither and that will be there to honor her for eternity, always present for occasions of celebration or for occasions of sadness.

And the day that represents great sorrow in the hearts of many Catholics is the day that represents enormous happiness for Alejandro, because on the Friday of Sorrows he and his team installed his beautiful altar to the Virgin in the Allende House Museum, whose process and result can be contemplated by all San Miguelenses. 

For this next edition, the idea is to create an altarpiece in the arcade of the Central Patio with the image of Our Lady of Hope and to place more representative images of Our Lady of Sorrows in the other side houses.

And after several years of starting this tradition of the Altar to the Virgin from the tender age of 7 and doing it with a small post, Alejandro's faith and talent have grown so much that it has become a must-attend event for all of San Miguel, and they have taken it to the historic headquarters where it has been for 15 years now.

Likewise, Alejandro's communication with the divine continues even though years ago he suffered an identity crisis similar to what every artist and human being goes through, where he decided to put aside the visual arts to do something else.

In his search, he arrived at the Angeles Peralta Theater, where he witnessed the Triana Flamenco Company and met the figure of a spectacular flamenco dancer whose lines were reminiscent of Botero's imposing paintings and whose beautiful movements changed Alejandro's life.

The Flamenco Dancer was Aura Madiedo, of whom Solea would first become a fan and later a friend, and who would inspire him to take his first Flamenco classes under the direction and guidance of a gypsy from Seville named Antonio “El Chupete”.

It was with these lessons and at an advanced level that Alejandro's dancing took shape and acquired his name of Solea, which represents the flamenco style characterized by the contemplation that occurs in absolute solitude, both the dark parts and the reflective parts, and it is thus that by chance Alejandro became the Director of the Triana company.

And it is under his leadership that the company maintains its traditional structure but offers shows with conceptual themes, such as the time they presented "Rojo Flamenco" in a kind of tribute to Alejandro's father's departure from this world.

In it, Solea does not remember how he danced because he loses consciousness of his senses except for hearing, but watching videos of the performance in retrospect was how he was able to see that he made circular movements to metaphorically unearth something from the earth, then dance with it and finally bury it again.

For this, they appropriately chose Taranto, a very dark song that speaks of the lives of miners in Spain at that time and how they were forced to descend underground to work in such brutal conditions that they often never resurfaced...

Now, what's coming to close out the year is a Triana show based on Granada Flamenco, which is much wilder, more visceral, and uncontrollable than the flamenco we know from the Seville school, and therefore will connect with the audience at different depths.

Solea's art, whether in the visual arts or on the tablao, is an event that doesn't change San Miguel but rather reaffirms its identity and makes us explore our being in ways we hadn't previously contemplated. That's why we never lose track of this extraordinary creator.